Tuesday, December 30, 2008

pink sky at night sailors delight

Lately the sky at sunset has been amazing! Thank goodness because it helps me to not feel completely exasperated for it being dark by 5pm. How can I complain when the sky looks like this? :)These pink and orange clouds were the perfect excuse to experiment with a new technique Collin & I learned from one of Candice Stringham's informative videos below.

Before & After

I've always wondered what the little star button was for on my Canon Rebel camera & I also wondered how people can take photos with a ton of back light with out their faces being dark. The video below answered both of my questions and inspired me to dust off my Photography 101 book from college and shoot with manual settings again. I got too comfortable just leaving it on AV Priority. If all of this sounds like a different language :) whip out your trusty camera manual, it's actually quite simple.

(Scroll down to the very bottom to turn off the tunes.)

That's my cute friend Erin in the video. :)

Feel free to share any of your tips & let me know if you have any questions. You can view more of Candice's videos at CK here.

Great tips. I didn't know CK's site offered photography tips. I'll have to delve into it more. Also, do you use the Sleepy Wrap for babies that you have on your blog? I have a 5 and 2 year old and a 5 month old so I could really use my hands free. I have a sling, but Nick hates it. I would love to know if you have one and if you like it or not. THANKS in advance. You're always so great at getting back to me. Happy Tuesday!! Jennifer Stanley

So true Valarie-life is so busy to take the time to figure out all of the settings! There really is so much to learn.

Jennifer, Yes I use the Sleepy Wrap and I LOVE it. I would wear it every night on our family walks and I need to break it out again!! I wonder if Quincey is too heavy now? I'll have to try it out and see. :)

If you shoot in RAW, and have a decent working of photoshop I know how to get an AWESOME picture with both the sunset at a correct exposure, and the person's face at the correct exposure. Although your picture is totally cute, the sunset is over-exposed. In a situation like that, it would be fun to get the best of both worlds (IMO).

Thanks for the great tip Amy! Working in RAW is amazing. I need to do that more often.I wanted the background in the photo of me to be out of focus because of the ugly house and street just wanted some good back lighting hehe! :)

Thanks for the great camera tip! I just took a photography class, and am alwasy looking for ideas and tips. I am upgrading to an SLR this spring, I have a cannon now, and I am planning to get the rebel, would you reccomend that one?

I have the Canon Power Shot A630.I wonder if it has an AE Lock on it.Sometimes I wonder if it can do more than I know.I have read my manual but I guess I need to do that again.Oh, there is so many things I want to learn this coming year.

Thanks Elizabeth, that's one of my new years res....to take more photos, learn to use my camera to it's fullest potential and to edit them using PS. This is a great start, one step at a time right? Great photo of the mountains and sunset.

Hi Elizabeth...I am definitely doing Project 365 on January 1. As a stay at home mom of 4, sometimes I wonder what was accomplished that day. I think this will help me appreciate the day to day things that go un-noticed. I just saw your layout in the Jan CK mag and I love how you made it your own. It's great to color outside the lines!

Hi again. I'm going to get the Sleepy Wrap. I'll let you know how it works. I hope Q will be able to use yours! Do you have Target stores there? I was at our local one today and they have this whole line of Valentine's Day stuff (placemats, towels, blankets, frames, etc.) that are so you! They are bright colors and hearts with little birds, turtles, etc. I couldn't resist buying some for myself. I wanted to let you know. They are too cute to pass up. Happy New Year!!! Jennifer Stanley

It took a year, but I finally took a picture that wasn't on "auto" and knew what I was doing! Thank you for this post!! All the time and effort you put into this blog impacts so many. Thank you barely touches the surface.